Love Unbroken
by VegasGoddess
Summary: [GSR] After Keppler's death, a shaken Grissom returns home, wanting Sara in his arms comforting him, and nothing else.


**Title:** Love Unbroken

**Summary:** After Keppler's death, a shaken Grissom returns home, wanting Sara in his arms comforting him, and nothing else.

**Spoilers:** "Leaving Las Vegas"; "Sweet Jane"; "Redrum"; "Meet Market"; "Law of Gravity"

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them. And I can't even ask for them for Christmas, because I already got my one gift: tickets to the Spice Girls in Vancouver. But, if you guys want to pool all your money, then maybe we can buy them, and play with them, and... well, yeah. ;-)

**A/N:** A post-"Law of Gravity" fic. Late, yes, but when I originally wrote it, it wasn't late. Thanks to _Coffee Bean_ again, for editing! Hope you guys like it! Read and enjoy.

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Love Unbroken**

Gil Grissom stepped into the townhouse, welcoming the cool darkness it provided. He'd spent the last few hours in the hospital with a distraught Catherine; Michael Keppler – the man who had semi-replaced him during his sabbatical – had been killed tonight.

He walked blindly to the bedroom, discarding clothes as he went. His first night back, and someone had been _killed. _No better way to welcome someone back than with a death, right?

Swearing under his breath, he collapsed on top of his bed, looking forward to a long, much deserved night's sleep, with no disturbances. Just him – alone – and the sheets. So when the body next to him moved, he started violently.

"Sara?"

"Gil?" She rolled over to stare at him with sleepy eyes. "Hey, you're home."

He couldn't hide his surprise at her still being in his bed, after so long. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Sleeping?" she suggested tiredly. "Do you not want me here?" Grissom could detect a small quiver of fear in her voice: she was afraid he was going to ask her to leave.

He slipped under the sheets warmed by her body and positioned himself so he could touch her. "No, honey, I _do_ want you here. More than anything…. It's just…"

She sat up on one elbow to see him better, all traces of sleep gone. "It's just what?"

"I've missed you, that's all." He let out a long sigh, and pulled Sara into his embrace for the first time in over a month. It felt good. "I missed you so much…"

She returned his hug eagerly, happy to finally be back in the warm comfort his arms. It had been far too long for both of them. She could tell something was wrong though, and pulled away to stare into his eyes. They were more than tired; they looked sad and haunted. "Gil, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, concerned.

"I just missed you, Sara. More than I ever thought was possible to miss someone..." He kissed her then, trying to put all the love he had held inside into this one kiss, this one intimate gesture.

"Why are you surprised that I'm here?" she asked, pulling away and resting her forehead on his.

"Because after being gone for a month, I was actually falling back into the habit of sleeping alone," he confessed. "And let me tell you, I don't like it. I also thought you'd be at your own place tonight."

He buried his hand in her soft hair; letting the other caress her back, which was covered only by the thin fabric of one of his old t-shirts.

"I have been at my apartment," Sara admitted quietly. "It was just… being here without you… it just felt wrong, I guess. I knew you were coming home tonight though, and I really wanted to be with you, or at least around things that remind me of you."

"Did you like Keppler?" Grissom asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Keppler? What? Why?"

"Because…" he trailed off, and looked away from her.

"Because what?" Sara gently grabbed his chin and turned his face so he looked at her.

"He's dead."

"He's _what_!?" she sputtered, certain that the sleep was fogging her brain and she hadn't heard properly.

"He died tonight. Saving Catherine, actually." Grissom gently pushed her down on the bed, sliding down her body so he could rest his face on her abdomen.

Sara looked down at him, unable to speak. Instead, she just ran her hands through his hair, and massaged the back of his neck. He was more tense than she'd ever seen.

Eventually, she spoke. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him quietly.

He didn't answer. He just pressed his face further into her stomach.

Feeling the wetness seep through her shirt and make her skin damp, she became alarmed. "Gil?"

He _never_ cried. In the fifteen years or so she'd known him, he had shown anger, compassion, love and even sadness, but never before had she seen him shed tears.

"Sara," he finally rasped out, his breath tickling her skin, "I thought I was going to watch Catherine die. She was right there, in front of me, and I thought I was going to watch her die."

She pulled his head up from her stomach and pulled his shaking body into her arms. "Shh, honey," she soothed, holding him close. "It's okay… she's not hurt, is she?"

Sara couldn't help but worry about the blonde. Personal feelings aside, Catherine was an essential part of their team, and Grissom's best and oldest friend.

Grissom nodded slowly into her neck, blinking back his tears. "She's okay… just a little shaken up, I guess," he mumbled.

"I can see why," Sara answered quietly. "How about some hot cocoa?" she asked after a moment, knowing that it would help soothe him.

He shook his head no, but didn't resist when Sara pulled him up off the bed and led him to the kitchen.

She sat him down on a barstool and wrapped an old San Francisco blanket they'd bought ages ago around his shoulders. Kissing him gently, she silently let him know that she was there for him, when he was ready.

It wasn't until she'd set the two steaming cups down on the counter in front of him that he spoke again. "I thought… watching Catherine, it could have been anyone else…" he said quietly; his body hunched over his mug.

Sara stood behind him, running her hands gently down his back, before starting to rub his shoulders, trying to ease the tension out. "Grissom…" she whispered soothingly, "It's okay now…"

He let out a small strangled sound, hunching over further. "It could have been you!" he hissed angrily, causing her to freeze.

"What?" she asked.

"It could have been you," he repeated, taking a sip of the drink, trying to calm down. "It could have been you there, instead of Catherine, and I don't know if Keppler would have… have saved you. He and Catherine… they seemed to…"

"Have a connection?" Sara supplied, knowing what he was getting at. She too had felt that Catherine and Keppler had some sort of deeper connection than with the rest of the team. Maybe _that_ was why they'd decided to go about doing reverse forensics beneath the rest of the graveyard shift's noses.

"What do you know about reverse forensics?" she asked him suddenly, causing Grissom to choke on his cocoa. Suppressing her laugh, she hit him lightly on the back before pulling him up into a reassuring hug.

"Lots of things," he murmured into her hair, wrapping his arms tightly around her body in response.

"Like what?" she pressed, wanting to know more.

"Not now," he told her, breaking off the hug and taking her hand to lead her back to bed; the mugs left unwanted and unneeded. "Tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow. Right now, all I want is to fall asleep with you nearby."

"Okay, Griss," Sara answered gently. "We'll go back to bed."

Lying down on the bed – together, this time – Grissom pulled Sara into his arms, wanting to know that she was still there, and loving him.

"I could have lost you, tonight, Sara, if you'd been there, instead of Cath…" he said in a quiet voice, tears threatening to come again.

Sara heard the catch in his voice and reached a hand up to stroke his cheek. "I'm here, Gil," she whispered softly. "I'm here, with you now. And I love you."

A small smile spread across his face; something she hadn't seen in quite some time. It made her smile in return.

"You mean so much to me, Sara," he said, rolling over and bringing her with him so that they were facing each other. "Don't ever leave me. Promise?"

"I promise," she said, lifting her head to kiss him. "I'll be with you as long as you want," she added sleepily, closing her eyes to finally get some real sleep beside the man who loved her.

Sara was fast asleep in his arms before Grissom gained the courage to whisper his answer into the dark, "Good. That means you'll be here with me forever, Sara."

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**-The End-**


End file.
